This invention concerns pillows in general, and in particular a foam pillow, with certain longitudinal characteristics and reversible and invertible features, adapted for selective support of a user's head and neck.
Due to the physical attributes of a typical person, the neck of a person reclining in a horizontal position (and without any particular pillow support or the like) becomes an unsupported bridge between their shoulders and their head. Such is generally true whether an individual is lying on their back or their side. Without proper head and neck support, muscle strain (particularly in the neck region) is not uncommon. Such strain leads to discomfort and restlessness which can defeat the entire purpose of a person's rest or sleep period.
During rest, individuals commonly recline in a relatively horizontal position with their head and part of their neck variously supported on pillows. Many commercial pillows for either home or hospital use comprise generally rectangular constructions with tapered edges, and are filled with a variety of cushioning materials, such as foam or down.
Often times, a person will "fluff" a pillow before using it. In effect, the pillow is being puffed up so that resting of one's head on the pillow will form a slight cradle, with other portions of the pillow being pushed outward to provide support for the user's neck. The desired affect is quickly lost once the pillow becomes pushed down again (i.e. "un-fluffed").
In general recognition of such head and neck support problems, it is known in the prior art to provide various contoured pillow arrangements (particularly for surgical or hospital patients) which differentially support a user's head and neck so that the naturally unsupported region beneath the neck is provided some support. For example, U.S. Pat. No. Des. 276,938 to Pedersen and French Pat. No. 1,120,734 by Cabrit et al. disclose contoured pillow designs having a profile including at least two raised areas as well as a trough for generally receiving a user's head. The person's head is retained in the trough between the two raised areas, with one of the raised areas supporting the neck region. Pedersen and Cabrit both disclose sloped regions adjacent one of the raised areas for also supporting upper shoulder regions; thus, they are intended for a single user orientation only, and do not vary the amount of neck support.
Similarly, Kogan (U.S. Pat. No. 4,218,792) concerns an orthopedic pillow having a cross-sectional profile with a trough for receiving a person's head, surrounded by two raised areas, one of which supports the user's neck region. A convex boss is provided on one side of the pillow for alignment under the nape of the user's neck; thus, Kogan has only one intended user orientation, and does not disclose structure to vary the amount of neck support.
While such references represent an advance in the area of supporting a person's head and neck over noncontoured support arrangements, they don't teach variations and modifications to provide selected elevations and positions for heads and necks of varying shapes and sizes. Dixon (U.S. Pat. No. 4,320,543) and De Laittre et al. (U.S. Pat. No. 3,829,917) disclose various medical and therapeutic contoured support pillows which include features for varying the amount of support of a user's head and neck.
Dixon discloses a pillow providing both vertical and lateral support for surgical purposes. Alternately matable members may be relatively rotated at 90.degree. intervals with respect to each other, for varying the height of a trough through which a user's neck passes for support of the user's head in a roughly cup-shaped arrangement having a convoluted support surface. The pillow provides four-way support of a recumbent user's head to immobilize same for surgical or other medical reasons in a so-called neutral or "sniffing" position, for administering anesthetics or when a patient must undergo treatment in an intensive care unit.
De Laittre discloses a therapeutic pillow which is intended to be aesthetically appealing by providing the appearance of a conventional pillow. Two convex lobes emerge from an underside of the pillow, overhang edges thereof, and merge at a mutually-shared trough. The lobes have a relatively constant diameter from the underside support surface to the shared trough. All four corners of the generally rectangular pillow are pulled inwardly by receipt and support of a user's head centrally thereon. So supported, forces push in on the top of the user's head, while other forces present at the user's neck and bottom of the head push outward to pull and stretch the neck muscles. Such forces are achieved with the integral construction and unitary face of the De Laittre device, in combination with the overhanging convex lobes thereof, which are of different height to provide support for heads and necks of various shapes and sizes.
In general, the foregoing devices, while recognizing the need for selective differential support of a person's head and neck, are generally restrictive in terms of positioning of the head since they are directed to medical or therapeutic applications. Furthermore, they may cause unpleasant cradling forces on a user's head due to lack of independent action for the surface features thereof. All such restrictiveness and unpleasant sensations may be acceptable in the limited use categories of medical or therapeutic needs, but are strongly undesirable for the comfort sought during everyday use such as rest or sleep periods.
Furthermore, none of the foregoing exemplary references combine their concern for differential head and neck support with any particular features thereof directed to other aspects of extended user comfort, such as moisture and heat control. Dixon refers to some air circulation around his convolutions, but basically teaches that a user's head should be deeply cradled in a soft support surface to immobilize same. In fact, the rather restrictive cradling of a number of prior art devices, such as the devices of Kogan, De Laittre, and Dixon, can contribute to a build-up of heat and moisture around a user's head, instead of dissipating same.
Leeb (U.S. Pat. No. 2,305,173) discloses a generally rectangular headrest having vertical openings which extend perpendicularly from a headrest support surface to internal cavities where medicated vapor vessels are received. Vapors ascend such vertical channels to provide a user with relief from the discomfort of blocked breathing. Such channeling directs vapors towards the support surface, instead of providing dissipation for heat or moisture generated by a user's head and neck resting thereon.
Spann (U.S. Pat. No. 4,573,456) discloses foam body supports, such as a foot splint which surrounds an injured foot, which have a plurality of enlarged air channels parallel to the user's leg for ventilating the enclosed leg or foot. A seat comprising a flat block of foam is also shown with such enlarged air channels.